Le Petit Lapin: Royal Orange Fairy Cakes

I think we've all gone a little royal wedding crazy, both sides of the pond.

thegoldenherald.com

Slightly more dignified than the pez dispensors is the official Royal Wedding website, which showcases the wedding ceremony guest list and seating chart, musicians and choirs performing, the wedding procession route, the charitable gift fund set up by William and Kate and about anything else that might spark your interest.

Luckily, the site includes information on the royal wedding cake. This enormous task has been placed on the shoulders of Fiona Cairns, British cake designer and cookbook author. Even though I'm tiring of the constant coverage on trivial matters pertaining to the wedding, I'm still rising early tomorrow morning to view the ceremony live as well as bake some treats to celebrate the day. And I'll definitely be keeping my eyes open for a sneak-peak of Cairns' cake.

I decided to bake fairy cakes, the British version of cupcakes. The cake is similar to that of American cupcakes, but fairy cakes are iced with royal icing instead of buttercream. I found inspiration from Fiona Cairns cookbook, Bake and Decorate, although I have a feeling these little cakes aren't anything near as grand as the cakes she's preparing for tomorrow.

Royal Orange Fairy Cakes

makes about 11 cupcakes

½ cup unsalted butter, room temp

½ cup + 2 tbsp sugar

zest of 1 orange
2 tbsp fresh orange juice
2 eggs
¾ cup + 2 tbsp self-rising flour, sifted

¾ cup + 2 tbsp confectioners sugar
2 tbsp fresh orange juice
1-2 drops orange flower blossom water

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and line muffin tins with paper cups.

2. Cream the butter, sugar and orange zest together until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Fold in the sifted flour just until absorbed. Add the juice and stir.

3. Bake for 15-18 min, until the cakes spring back when lightly touched. Remove from the tins and allow to cool until room temp.

4. To prepare the icing, sift the confectioners sugar and add the orange juice and orange flower blossom water. Stir until a thick frosting comes together. Ice the tops of the cakes and decorate as desired.